More photos of the second generation Nissan Leaf

The user I300 of the German forum goingelectric.de just posted more photos of the new generation Nissan Leaf. In these photos we can see that Nissan will not adopt CCS for DC fast charging, which is a shame, however it isn’t yet known which standard will be used to supply electric power for the internal charger.

More than natural resources, are wasted human resources that bothers me the most. That's why I'm a strong advocate of a society based on cooperation, not competition, that helps every individual to reach his full potential so that he can contribute back to society. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs".

Type 2 allows 1 and 3 phase AC and even DC, it’s a complete standard. This is why Tesla uses an improved type 2 socket in its European cars. The type 1 is so primitive that Tesla has no use for it and needs a proprietary standard outside Europe…

The CCS is just an unnecessary upgrade to the type 2, since Tesla already proved that type 2 can be improved – with longer DC pins – to work at high DC rates.

Even if I prefer the improved type 2 standard by Tesla, CCS is much more compact than the combination mess of CHAdeMO and type 1.

Pity Nissan doesn’t see the writing on the wall and ditch CHAdeMO, at least outside of Japan. The standard is pretty much doomed anyway given the terrible manufacturer support it now has – with only Nissan left, and only other Japanese makers likely to follow suit (and then probably only on cars sold in Japan).

Beefed-up type 2 a la Tesla would have been the best way to go, but given that there’s no proper standard for this CCS would be second best, even if the port is as pointlessly clunky as CHAdeMOs – at least that one big port allows use of type 2 without having to add a separate port…

The design is a step in the right direction, but that said I personally find it quite boring. Boring is better than ugly (I say this as a LEAF owner!) but I had hoped they’d be closer than this to the IDS concept… even if I never really believed they would be.

Nissan is just a bit like that, I guess. Boring and sensible. Toyota of course is even more so, but I just don’t understand why they are like this! The GT86 proves Toyota can make a car with soul and fun at the very core, and Mazda has the MX-5 which also offers a bit of a laugh. Nissan has only the GT-R, which is a mightily impressive technology demo but completely lacks the charm and indeed the fun you get from the cars I’ve just mentioned.

If the new LEAF doesn’t get at least 60 kWh and is competitive with the Bolt, despite coming to market nearly a full year later, I will lose what littlefaith I still have in their interest and/or ability to make a leading EV. It is a pity, because despite my opinion that the LEAF is a bit too boring, it is certainly a plleasant car to live with in many ways. It’s incredibly easy and relaxing to drive, it’s comfy and reasonably roomy, and it has good roadholding even if it doesn’t inspire you to explore that. In short, for a lot of people it’s probably just the ticket. But it needs to remain competitive, and in my view it hasn’t been for two years now.